Device for adapting a shooting aid onto an individual fire-arm

ABSTRACT

Device for adapting shooting aids onto an individual fire-arm (1) at the vicinity of the front portion of the barrel, characterized in that it is comprised of a fixed element (8) integral with the fire-arm, and a removable element (13) which can be made integral with the fixed element (8) and the barrel (2) of the fire-arm. The shooting aid can be a laser designator or a grenade launcher.

The technical field of the present invention concerns accessory adaptersfor individual firearms including grenade launchers, laser gunsights,torches or any other aim-enhancing launch device.

It is well known how to affix various accessories to individualfirearms. Each kind of accessory is outfitted with a specific and as arule stationary adapter entailing modification of the weapon, inmachining some parts of the weapon, and sometimes in eliminatingoriginal components. Furthermore accessory disassembly and re-affixationrequires special tools not with the firearm operator when on maneuvers.In such a case the weapon is assigned to a specific use and it followsthat the said adapter might be non-exchangeable.

The U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,362 describes a complex adapter used in affixinga laser gunsight onto a weapon composed of a very large number of partsaccurately mating one another. This adapter entails the drawbacks listedbelow.

The great drawbacks of the above cited weapon modifications is that theyare irreversible, rendering the weapon specific and entailingidiosyncratic management and maintenance constraints.

Another drawback is the specificity of each adapter, that is, there areas many adaptater designs as there are accessories.

Still another drawback is the need for a skilled gunsmith to adapt theweapon or to move it to its initial destination so that degradation beless than irreversible.

The object of the present invention is to create a weapon accessoryadapter entailing only minimal weapon modifications and applicable todifferent types of weapons in order to circumvent the above citeddrawbacks.

Accordingly the object of the invention is an aim-enhancing accessoryadapter for an individual firearm, said adapter being located near thefront part of the barrel and being characterized by comprising:

a stationary component rigidly affixed to the weapon, and

a detachable component which can be rigidly affixed to the stationarycomponent and the weapon barrel.

In a preferred embodiment mode of the invention, the stationarycomponent on one hand is located away from the free barrel-end and onthe other hand it is rigidly affixed to the weapon at the front end oftube enclosing said weapon.

In general the detachable component consists of a longitudinal platefitted at one end with a connector to the stationary component and atthe other end with hookup means to the barrel.

In one embodiment, the stationary component and the hookup means arefitted with a quick-connect means of the bayonet type, said hookup meanscomprising an aperture in the stationary component and a tang extendingthe hookup means, hookup being implemented by rotating the detachablecomponent by a quarter revolution.

In still another embodiment, the hookup means is in the form of a hookwith a bow and opening, said opening matching the barrel diameter, thehook being kept in place by a support ring of the weapon entering thebow.

In a variation, the hook is fitted with a complementary hook rotatableinside the bow and capping the barrel by means of the ring.

In particular the adapter of the invention is appropriate to affixing alaser gunsight or a grenade launcher.

A foremost advantage of the invention is that adapter use is simplified,no specific tool being required.

Another advantage of the invention is the faithful reproducibility ofaffixation of the accessory to the weapon.

Another advantage of the invention is that weapon performance remainsundegraded.

Other features and advantages of the invention are elucidated in thefollowing description of the embodiments of the invention in relation tothe attached drawings.

FIG. 1 is a section of the front portion of a weapon and shows theadapter,

FIG. 2 is a perspective of part of the tube enclosing the weapon,

FIG. 3 is a perspective of the stationary component of the adapter,

FIG. 4 is a topview of the detachable component of the adapter,

FIG. 5 is a partial topview of the stationary component,

FIGS. 6A, 6B are sections of the hookup means,

FIG. 7 is a section of a play compensating system for the hookup means,and

FIGS. 8, 9 are two illustrative embodiments of how to affix accessoriesto a weapon.

From the above, the adapter may be used on all types of weapons, eitherdirectly on the barrel or on components enclosing the barrel. Thedescription below describes an application of the invention to aparticular weapon, but without implying limitation thereby. Thus FIG. 1shows a weapon 1 of which the barrel 2 is protected in known manner byan enclosing tube 3 terminating in an end-fitting 4 insulating andsupporting a number of components. At its free end 5, the barrel 2 isfitted with a detachable ring 6 commonly called the grenade supportring. The enclosing tube 3 and the barrel portion located between thering 6 and the end-fitting 4 are protected by the stock 7.

The adapter of the invention comprises a stationary component 8 whichmay be permanently affixed to the enclosing tube 3 near the end-fitting4. The overall shape of the component 8 is an L of which the end of onearm 9 rests on the zone 10 of the enclosing tube 3 near the end-fitting4 and of which the other arm 11 is affixed by a pin 12 to the lower partof the end-fitting 4. The arm 11 comprises an aperture 13 used inhooking up a detachable component 14.

The detachable component 14 assumes the form of a longitudinal plate 15serving on one hand to be affixed to the weapon using hookup means andon the other hand to receive the various accessories. It is understoodthat said shape may be matched to the particular accessory for instanceby providing two notches 16 and 17 entered by studs rigidly part of theaccessory. At one end the hookup means are constituted by a connector 18extended by a radial tang 19 capped by a head 20 while they are composedat the other end of a hook 21 matching the barrel 2.

FIG. 2 is a perspective of the end-fitting 4 extending the enclosingtube 3 which is coaxial with the xx' axis of the weapon barrel. Theend-fitting 4 assumes the overall shape of a parallelipiped comprisingat its base a clearance 22 bounding two side faces 23 and 24. These twofaces are perforated by a transverse hole 25 receiving the pin 12. Thecutout D receives a pin 7a(FIG. 1) hooking up the assembly to the weaponstock 7.

FIG. 3 is a perspective of the component 8 affixed to the tube 3 whichis rigidly joined to the end-fitting 4. For that purpose the arm 9comprises an upper surface 26 of which the topology matches that of theenclosing tube 3 of the weapon barrel 2 on which it rests. The height ofthis arm 9 is calculated so that when said arm rests on the barrel, thehead 20 shall rest on the upper plane surface 27 of a first portion ofthe arm 11. This portion 28 is extended by a second portion 29 crossedby a duct 30 and comprises a lip 31 which shall enter the clearance 22and which is terminated at each side by stud 32. Accordingly, when thecomponent 8 is moved onto the weapon and after forcing the arm 9 againstthe zone 10, the lip 31 comes to rest against the bottom of theclearance 22, whereupon the pin 12 may be engaged across the holes 25and the duct 30. The two studs 32 are forced against the forward surfaceof the end-fitting 4. Therefore the component 8 is fully locked relativeto the end-fitting.

The detachable component 14 shown in topview in FIG. 4 comprises twoboreholes 40 and 41 serving to affix the accessory for instance usingscrews. Obviously any other affixation system, for instance clamps orsnap-fasteners also may be used.

FIG. 4 also shows that the head 20 is a parallelipipedic part of whichthe larger base is aligned with the K axis of the plate 15.

FIG. 5 shows the shape of the aperture 13 matching the shape of the tang19 and of the head 20. This aperture 13 assumes an overallparallelipipedic shape of which the large base runs along a yy' axisperpendicular to the xx' axis of the barrel 2, said aperture widening atits center to receive the tang 19. Therefore, when the tang 19 isinserted in the aperture 19 along the yy' axis, the head 20 shall becomeflush with the arm 11 against which it will rest as explained below.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are longitudinal sections along an axis perpendicular tothe K axis of the plate 15 and represent two embodiments of the hookupmeans 21 on the barrel 2 by means of the ring 6 (FIG. 1).

As shown by FIG. 6A, the hookup means is in the form of a hook 43evincing an opening 44 and a bow 45. The opening 44 matches the diameterof the barrel 2 and the bow 45 is of a diameter slightly larger thanthat of the weapon ring 6.

As shown by FIG. 6B, the hookup means also may be in the form of a hook46 evincing an opening 47 and a bow 48. In this embodiment the bow andopening dimensions are substantially larger than the diameter of thering 6, however the hook 46 is fitted with a complementary hook 49rotationally movable relative to the hook by means of a stud 50.Thereby, when actuating the stud 50, the complementary hook 49 shallimplement--around the ring 6--the closure and locking of the hook 46relative to said ring 6 which is rigidly affixed to the barrel 2.

The adapter is assembled to the weapon in the following manner, it beingunderstood that the accessory can be affixed to the plate 15 eitherbefore or after being fastened to the weapon. The stationary component 8is included already in the design of the weapon or else it will beretrofitted to it. In the former case, the component 8 may be integralwith the end-fitting 4. The detachable component 14 is aligned with theyy' axis and thereby it is possible to insert the head 20 into theaperture 13. When the head emerges from the aperture, the plate 15 isbent back by a quarter revolution toward the weapon and thereupon thehead 20 rests against the arm 11, thus implementing the connectionbetween the stationary component 8 and the detachable component 14.Simultaneously the hook 43 or 46 is placed around the barrel 2 or thering 6. Locking the hook 43 is carried out by translating the movablering 6 on the weapon barrel in such manner that said ring shall beentering the bow 45. By locking the hook 46 directly capping the ring 6,the component 14 is fastened on the weapon. Next the stud 50 of thecomplementary hook 49 is actuated and thereupon said complementary hookpartly or totally closes the opening 47.

In general the ring 6 is fitted with a spring 51 (FIG. 1) and the hook43 or 46 is made to rest on said spring, further the said ring is madeto be stationary or movable in order to compensate the mechanical playbetween the hook and the ring and to achieve good locking localization.

Dis-assembly is carried out in reverse manner. The adapter of theinvention also allows satisfactory alignment of the accessory on thebarrel axis and can be matched to diverse accessories while maximallypreserving the original weapon functions. Only one modification isrequired to affix the stationary component, and no tool whatever is usedfor affixation and dis-assembly.

FIG. 7 illustrates a particular implementation of compensating playbetween the stationary component 8 and the detachable component 14. Forthat purpose the connector 18 comprises a telescoping tang. Said tangcomprises a hollow base 52 entered by a shaft 53 outwardly continued bythe head 20. A spring 54 is mounted between a shoulder 55 of the hollowbase 52 and a shoulder 56 of the shaft 53. As a result the elasticassembly so implemented allows compensating the vertical assembly playbetween the aperture 13 and the shaft 53. This configuration moreparticularly is applicable to an accessory of the laser gunsight type.In case more accurate centering is desired, a cone may be added near theshaft 53 to eliminate the lateral play in the connector.

FIG. 8 shows assembling a grenade launcher 61 using the adapter. Thisadapter being bulkier than a laser gunsight, the plate 15 is extendedbeyond the hookup means 21 bearing the hook 49. In this instance theweapon 1 is fitted with a stationary ring 6.

FIG. 9 shows the affixation of the adapter fitting a weapon 1 with alaser gunsight 60. Such affixation is rigorously identical with thatdescribed in relation to FIG. 1, comprising engagement of the ring 6 inthe hook 43.

We claim:
 1. An adapter for mounting shooting accessories to anindividual firearm in the vicinity of the front of a barrel,comprising:a stationary component rigidly joined to the firearm andlocated opposite the end of a barrel from which a projectile exits; aremovable component that can be affixed to the stationary component;said removable component having a longitudinal plate with a connector atone end to connect to the stationary component and an attachment elementat the other end to attach to the front of the barrel; and hookup meanswhereby said stationary component is rigidly joined to the connector ofsaid removable component by a quick-connect bayonet mount.
 2. An adapteras in claim 1, wherein the hookup means further comprises an aperture inthe stationary component and a tang extending from the connector.
 3. Anadapter as in claim 2, wherein the hookup means further comprises aremovable component which is rotatable by a quarter revolution.
 4. Anadapter as in claim 1, wherein the hookup means comprises a hook havinga bow and an opening matching the diameter of the barrel, the hook beingkept in place by a weapon support ring entering the bow.
 5. An adapteras in claim 1, wherein the hookup means is composed comprises a hookhaving a bow and an opening matching the diameter of a weapon supportring, the hook being fitted with a complementary hook rotatable in thebow and serving to surround the barrel by means of a weapon supportring.
 6. An adapter as claim 1, further comprising:the stationarycomponent is rigidly affixed to the firearm near the rear end of thebarrel.
 7. An adapter according to claim 1, wherein said stationarycomponent and said removable component are affixed to at least one of alaser gunsight or a grenade launcher.